This is an enterprising selection of Britten performed by the Choir of St Thomas's in Fifth Avenue, New York City, where there is a strong musical tradition. It ranges from the early (1935) Te Deum to the joyous 1961 setting of Jubilate Deo and includes two masterpieces—the Hymn to St Cecilia and the magical Rejoice in the Lamb. There is also his only piece for solo organ, namely the Prelude and Fugue on a Theme of Vittoria, written (like Rejoice in the Lamb) for St Matthew's Church, Northampton. The Prelude is grandiose and the Fugue poetic: the playing of Michael Kleinschmidt does both full justice and the recording is exceptionally good.
The quality of the choral singing is variable. In the Hymn to St Cecilia, the ''O dear white children'' section is weakly sung and the whole performance is disconcertingly mannered, to my ears. A poor treble solo lets down the performance of Rejoice in the Lamb, which is a pity because the alto solo is good and the singing of the chorus in ''For I am under the same accusation with my Saviour'' is thrilling.
I liked the performance of the Hymn to St Peter (1955), an imaginative setting with an enchanting ending, but the treble solo is again somewhat tremulous. Encouraged as one is that an American choir should show so much obvious devotion to all this music, there is not one performance that I would rank above other recorded versions. On the other hand, to have these pieces together on one disc is obviously an advantage and other listeners may find the singing more to their taste than it is to mine.'